Wagholi residents to go on indefinite hunger strike over Bakori Road issue
For years, the residents of Wagholi and adjoining areas have had to depend on a narrow, nine-feet, Bakori Road despite a 60-feet-wide road clearly shown in all town planning documents
A decades’ old problem involving a road (or the lack of it) has snowballed into a citizens’ movement with an indefinite hunger strike scheduled to begin on Saturday, September 13, at Bakori Phata, Wagholi. The agitation, led by social welfare body, Wagholi Against Corruption Organisation (WACO), is aimed at making the authorities sit up and pay attention to the residents’ long-pending demand for a proper road in the area.
For years, the residents of Wagholi and adjoining areas have had to depend on a narrow, nine-feet, Bakori Road despite a 60-feet-wide road clearly shown in all town planning documents. Citizens allege that thanks to collusion between builders and the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), builders got approvals, permissions and occupancy certificates without actual development of the promised road. Even after collecting taxes and development charges, the promised basic road infrastructure was never delivered, leading to severe traffic congestion, daily accidents, and life-threatening risks for thousands of commuters. According to residents, this is tantamount to fraud; they are now demanding corrective measures. The protest, being organised at Bakori Phata, is expected to see the participation of thousands of citizens with the demonstrators asserting that this will be a peaceful but firm agitation until their demands are addressed.
The demands raised by ‘Team WACO’ include a probe into how the PMRDA issued multiple town planning approvals without ensuring the availability of Bakori Road, strict action against the guilty officials and builders, and a clear written explanation from the collector and administration on the prolonged delay. The protesters are also demanding completion of the pending land acquisition process with fair compensation to farmers, and widening of Bakori Road along with other internal roads in Wagholi on an urgent basis.
About the agitation, ‘Team WACO’ president Anil Kumar Mishra, said, “This movement is not just about infrastructure, it is about the dignity and safety of ordinary citizens. For decades, thousands of families have paid taxes, development charges, and other dues, but the most basic necessity, a safe and accessible road, has been denied to them. Every day, people risk their lives while travelling on the nine-feet road which was never meant to carry such heavy traffic. We are left with no option but to protest in this manner. Until the administration takes concrete, written, and time-bound action to ensure the availability and widening of Bakori Road, our indefinite hunger strike will continue.”
